Why HanuMan team’s move to lend a religious colour to the promotional campaign isn’t ideal

HanuMan, the mythological fantasy directed by Prasanth Varma, is overcoming various hurdles to find an appropriate number of screens for the first day of release across Telugu states. The tale, set in a fictitious hill station Anjanadri, focuses on a youngster who’s blessed by HanuMan’s special powers in the middle of a crisis and goes onto vanquish evil.

The team, which received the support of a popular religious group during the trailer launch, has now decided to donate Rs 5 from every ticket to Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, as announced by Chiranjeevi during the pre-release event yesterday. The makers have consistently reiterated how the shoot wouldn’t have been wrapped as per their plan without divine influence.

Bringing the divine and the mythological elements of the tale to the fore is quite necessary for the promotional campaign, one may presume. However, the makers have suggested that they’ve approached HanuMan like a superhero film, inspired by aesthetics of Marvel films and also spoke of their intent to create something original sans a popular reference point.

Also read: HanuMan - All you need to know about Prasanth Varma, Teja Sajja’s superhero film 

Films and storytelling have always been a communal experience in India and they’ve constantly risen above social barriers to unite people under one roof. Team HanuMan’s association with Ram Mandir is disappointing, more so, given the tainted history of the temple. The religious colour to a proclaimed superhero film is avoidable - the title says the obvious and one needn’t stress it more.

Observing it from a producer’s perspective, the Ram Mandir association may have been a gimmick to attract a wider audience base from the Hindi-speaking land, where HanuMan is expected to have a huge release. A superhero film should ideally celebrate its universal appeal without reducing the debate to religion. Prasanth Varma is a capable storyteller who certainly understands this.

The promos of HanuMan have made it obvious that the story is essentially about the fight between good and evil with a mythological dimension. The devotional angle is only dimension of the film which promises much more. It’s evident that the team is treading the path of Karthikeya 2’s Hindi strategy, where the association with religious groups, temples boosted its box office prospects.

Also read: Director Prasanth Varma - HanuMan is my most entertaining film and will be loved by kids

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